New Orleanian goes from public housing to Globetrotters and on to 'Amazing Race'By Dave Walker September 26, 2009, 5:00AM

Nathaniel Lofton’s personality spark was unmistakable, even back in college.

"The Amazing Race"Sunday, 7 p.m., Channel 4

“He always was that type on the floor,” said Roman Banks, Southeastern’s associate men’s basketball coach. “He’d block a shot, (then) give people in the stands a high five. He always had showmanship.”

Starting tonight, the nation gets to sample some of that high style, as Lofton and his Harlem Globetrotters teammate Herbert “Flight Time” Lang take on 11 other teams in the CBS reality-TV series “The Amazing Race.”

The trek starts in Los Angeles and eventually winds through eight countries during 21 days.

The competing teams — playing for a $1 million prize — comprise the usual reality-TV mixture of good and evil.

Sweet young couples and a former Miss America occupy one end of the likeability spectrum.

On the other end: two conniving professional poker players and a blowhard lawyer who apparently can’t utter any statement without first saying, “I’m a lawyer.”

So Lofton – whose Globetrotters nickname is “Big Easy” — and Lang are a team to cheer for without reservation.

Semi-spoiler, though the competition’s first foreign destination is mentioned in listings log-lines: The title of tonight’s two-hour premiere episode — actually a line uttered by Lang referencing his 6-foot-9 partner — is, “They Thought Godzilla Was Walking Down the Street.”

A graduate of L.E. Rabouin High School, Lofton came of age in public housing in Central City — the Guste Apartments — and had returned to his hometown after college at the time of Hurricane Katrina.

According to his official Globetrotters bio, Lofton and friends pushed a pickup truck full of folks out of peril after the levees broke. From there, he landed in Houston.

And from there, with the Globetrotters.

“The Globetrotters have been around for a long time,” Lofton said. “As far as basketball, they introduced it to a lot of people. Seeing it on TV, it was a different type of basketball. I saw the comedy, but I also realized how good they were as athletes.

“It was a dream for me to play professional basketball. For me to be in the Globetrotters, that’s amazing, especially for me, being from New Orleans and growing up in the projects.”

Watching Louisiana locals on reality TV can sometimes be a cringe-inducing experience, even for contestants watching after-the-fact.

Not so here, at least based on a preview disc of the season premiere double episode.

“I don’t fake like I’m nice,” Lofton said. “You are what you are. As I say on the show, what you are and who you are is going to come out no matter what. You can’t hide it. I’m naturally a good person. I’m naturally a nice dude. If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be able to be a Globetrotter from the start. It was easy for me to be myself.

“I’m looking forward to watching it. If you represent yourself, if you represent your family and you represent your organization, it doesn’t matter how something is perceived. Only so much can be done. If you can handle yourself well, it doesn’t matter how it’s shown on TV. It’s going to come across well if you handled yourself well.

“I’m ready for anything to be seen.

“My nickname is Big Easy. Everything I’m doing is representing New Orleans. I couldn’t have that name if I didn’t go through what I went through coming up in the city.”

Lofton visited his New Orleans home last week between a cameo promotional appearance on CBS’s Emmy Awards telecast and departing for the Globetrotters preseason training camp.

“It was my first time doing the awards thing. It was cool,” Lofton said of the Emmys, for which he and Lang were involved in a brief sight-gag. “(Host) Neil Patrick (Harris) did a great job. It moved well — not too many dead spots. Everybody was nice. It was cool.”

After the two-week camp, Lofton, age 28, will depart with his teammates on tour. Typically, the Globetrotters travel nine months of each year (with two units on the road at a time), and Europe is one of the organization’s destinations during the upcoming season.

It’s a life that likely once seemed so distant to Lofton, who didn’t advance to college ball right out of high school, instead working at Acme Oyster House in the French Quarter as an oyster-shucker and food server.

But he worked his way back onto the court, first at Independence (Kan.) College, then Arkansas-Fort Smith, then Southeastern.

Now, with the Globetrotters, he’s attained one of the marquee positions in all of popular culture – the “Showman” position once occupied by icons Meadowlark Lemon, Geese Ausbie and Sweet Lou Dunbar. The Showman wears a microphone during games, triggering comedy bits, dishing dunks and directing the trademark. Globetrotter weave from the top of the key.

Dunbar, who last season mentored Lofton in the Showman slot, said Lofton has the potential to join the ranks of the team’s all-time greats.

“It’s hard not to like Big Easy,” Dunbar said. “The kid is very humble, and he’s enjoying what he’s doing. He’s just that kind of guy, which makes him a great Globetrotter. “Let me tell you, the kid did a great job.”

Without divulging any specifics about his pre-taped “Amazing Race” season, Lofton said his barnstorming basketball experience served him well.

“Certain things you’re going to come across as a Globetrotter and doing the traveling — what to eat, what not to eat; how to prepare myself for sleep — it helps somewhat,” he said. “Definitely, it was harder than I expected. It was super-fun, but yes it was harder than I expected it to be.

“I went into the game respecting it. I knew it was going to be hard, but I respected it from the jump. When it got hard, I was prepared for it.”

Southeastern’s Banks won’t be surprised by Lofton’s cool approach to adversity on the road.

“He’s always been a guy who’s kind of out there on his own, but took care of his business,” Banks said. “He was a mature-type guy.”

At Southeastern, “Everybody knew who he was, the big guy walking across campus,” Banks continued. “In a two-year span at Southeastern, he took the program (from one) that wasn’t going anywhere (to) a program that’s respectable today.

“When you think about the type of charm he had on campus, and take his basketball — a little trash-talking, laughing and joking, pushing his teammates — then you see him as a Globetrotter.

“When you take him as a Globetrotter and see how successful he’s been and what he enjoyed doing, then take him to a reality show where his personality now can be seen nationally, you really find out what type of guy this young man is.

“Coming out of the projects of New Orleans, a lot of people thought he wasn’t going to amount to too much. But he kept working at it ... and his personality was great. It’s just a great story to tell people.

“When you look at Nathaniel Lofton and you talk about people in despair, you can tell youth you can be anything you want to be and all you have to do is look at Nathaniel Lofton.”

TV columnist Dave Walker appears every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday in the Living section. He can be reached at dwalker@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3429. Comment or read past columns and new blogs at NOLA.com/tv.

Yes they will be on, as a matter of fact Bonnie had them listed on her schedule before they were eliminated.And while I'm here, I don't think of the Globies as quitters, they are good racers and they added a lot of entertainment to the show

Nathaniel "The Big Easy" Lofton claims he correctly unscrambled the letters to spell "Franz" during a Roadblock task but was so confused by that point that he couldn't keep track of if he had already guessed it as an answer or not.

The 28-year-old from New Orleans, LA and his Harlem Globetrotters teammate Herbert "Flight Time" Lang, a 32-year-old from Brinkley, AR, decided to take a four-hour penalty that they were never able to overcome and thus became the ninth team eliminated from The Amazing Race's fifteenth season during last night's broadcast of the CBS reality series.

On Monday, Flight Time and Big Easy talked to Reality TV World about why the Roadblock task was so confusing; what went into their decision to take the four-hour penalty; whether they have any hard feelings towards "Brothers" Daniel and Samuel McMillen; and how one contestant's fears opened the door for them when hope was all but lost.

Reality TV World: Big Easy, how surprised were you really when Dan decided not to give you the word during the Roadblock task?

Big Easy: I was surprised for like a second-and-a-half and then realized it was Dan, so it was back to reality quick. It was part of his strategy and it was a good deal on his part -- there was nothing mean about it. He wasn't obligated.

Reality TV World: You said that you would have given him the answer had you gotten it first, but is that something you really would have done given you were competing for a spot in the final leg?

Big Easy: Yeah, I would have because the other team wasn't there yet -- ["Married Couple" Ericka Dunlap and Brian Kleinschmidt] -- also we think, as we said, that we can beat the teams if it gets to a foot race. It was the beginning of that leg and I think if we had gotten to that next part -- pushing the [Golem statue as part of a Detour task] -- me and Flight Time, physically, we would have knocked that out quick. So I probably would have given it to him.

Reality TV World: Were there any clues in the museum that might have tipped you off that the answer might have been "Franz," Kafka's first name?

Big Easy: Not that I know of. Looking back on it, there were over 200 phones ringing at the same time and there wasn't any clues at all.

Reality TV World: What exactly did the clue tell you about the word you were trying to unscramble, did it even tell you it was a person's name or mention Kafka at all?

Big Easy: No. I can't remember exactly. I don't want to lie to you, but I think it was like a local thing. That's all it said.

Reality TV World: You commented at one point that you started to get confused since you weren't keeping very good track of the letter combinations you had already tried. Do you think that played a large role in your inability to solve it?

Big Easy: I think that was my demise. I actually wrote the word "Franz" down on the paper, but I didn't transfer it to the sheet that I had to transfer it to to get the people to look at it, to okay it. Maybe I thought I did, maybe I thought I didn't -- I got confused with it. I didn't know that was actually the word, but then I thought I already went up with it.

Reality TV World: When Brian arrived you told him you had been there for about two-and-a-half hours. How much time total do you think you spent in the museum trying to complete the Roadblock?

Big Easy: Total? With the four hours, maybe seven or eight hours.

Reality TV World: So that's with the four-hour penalty?

Big Easy: Yeah, with the penalty -- maybe three-and-a-half or four without. Reality TV World: When did the option of taking the four-hour penalty begin to cross your mind?

Big Easy: As soon as Brian received [the clue after completing the Roadblock], I figured it was cold outside and I didn't get it in three-and-a-half hours, it makes no sense to take another three-and-a-half hours not to get it and then maybe take a four-hour penalty after that, because that's 12 hours. It would leave Flight Time in the cold for 12 hours! I didn't think that was fair to him. I just didn't do it. I just didn't get it done. There was no reason for him to suffer anymore.

Reality TV World: Once you decided to take the four-hour penalty and knowing the previous leg was non-elimination, how confident were you that you'd be able to avoid elimination? Were you just really hoping one of the other teams would make a big mistake?

Big Easy: Yeah. As you can see in previous episodes, no one's saying that the next thing is going to be any easier. We felt, "Okay, we take the penalty and maybe somebody makes a mistake like we did on that obstacle." We kind of figured the next thing was going to be something physical and we figured if we can catch up with them, then we can do what we do.

Will Flight Time leap from 'The Amazing Race' to 'DWTS'?December 2, 2009 | 1:03 pm He may not have won the $1 million, but could "Amazing Race" also-ran Herbert "Flight Time" Lang be redirecting his competitive sights to a shiny Mirrorball trophy instead?

The just-eliminated Flight Time (pictured, left), of the "Race's" popular Harlem Globetrotters team of Flight Time and Big Easy, cracked open the possibility of outfitting himself in glittery face decals and sequins when asked by EW.com if there was a chance that he could show up on another reality show. "I feel like I can do anything now," he responded. "I enjoy watching 'Dancing With the Stars' and I think I’m a pretty good dancer."

ABC itself doesn't comment on potential casting choices. But I think Flight Time would be a great addition to the "DWTS" family. First of all, he fulfills that requisite sports quotient. Plus, he's so darn likable: The man is a Harlem Globetrotter, for crying out loud -- those guys eke out goodwill just by spinning basketballs on their index fingers. Not only that, Flight Time himself was a congenial, stand-up guy during his "Race" run, which no doubt only won him more fans. He has patience in spades and doesn't take himself too seriously. Finally, need I mention that this guy's got rhythm? Remember how he got down when they had to do that Swedish farmer dance? And those awesome arm extensions he showed off to the music of "Don Giovanni" during the recent opera challenge? Methinks he and Edyta could make a good team -- no offense to Big Easy, of course. (Though she, being Polish, would also probably have heard of fellow European Franz Kafka, and most likely would have been able to unscramble his first name during a challenge.)

Will Flight Time leap from 'The Amazing Race' to 'DWTS'?December 2, 2009 | 1:03 pm He may not have won the $1 million, but could "Amazing Race" also-ran Herbert "Flight Time" Lang be redirecting his competitive sights to a shiny Mirrorball trophy instead?